Designers and manufacturers of women's clothing have long recognized a need for providing garments which do not need to be removed, either partially or entirely, when it is necessary for a woman to attend to her natural functions.
While men's clothing may have a “fly” that allows a man to relieve himself without removing his clothing, most women's clothing does not have an openable portion in the crotch area that performs a similar function as the fly does for men. For a woman, the act of urinating or attending to personal needs requires removing any clothing covering the lower torso of her body.
An openable crotch is a desirable feature in women's undergarments, especially useful in women's undergarments that are difficult to remove (such as foundation garments or girdles). With regard to underwear, openable crotch garments have generally been designed with little or no closure security at the crotch opening, similar to the fly in men's underwear. Thus, the crotches tend to open on their own without being forcibly opened by a user. However, because the garments are worn underneath an outer layer of clothing, an unintended opening of the crotch is generally of little consequence.
An openable crotch is also desirable in women's clothing that may be worn as outer clothing which itself cannot be removed. For example, a woman might wear this clothing when it is cold and she wants to expose as little skin as possible to the atmospheric elements when relieving herself. Further, a woman might wear this clothing so that she need not partially or completely disrobe to relieve herself, for example, when she is outdoors and away from home or a public restroom. For example, a woman in military field training might use openable crotch clothing. This kind of clothing has generally been designed with zippers or other straight seam closures that are uncomfortable when they rub or bunch up against the external area of a woman's vaginal area.
However, none of the previously-developed openable crotch garments are for use when a woman is engaging in exercise, or otherwise wearing tight-fitting or compression clothing. For example, urinating can be especially difficult and embarrassing for a woman who is, for example, jogging, bicycling, speed-walking, or stretching out in the open in a place where no restrooms are available and other people are around. Further, urinating can also be difficult for people who have trouble removing tight-fitting clothing, for example, if physically impaired or lacking in manual dexterity skills. In these situations, wearing clothing that must be removed to urinate can present an awkward and uncomfortable situation.
Previously developed openable crotches are not comfortable in tight-fitting clothing and/or not secure enough in the closed position to be worn as outerwear. For example, zippers in a straight-seam orientation through the middle of the crotch area and other bulky and/or stiff crotch seams are uncomfortable for a woman when she is engaged in an exercise like bicycling. These straight-seam openings tend to “pucker” and bunch in the crotch area making it uncomfortable for the user. Moreover, underwear without any mechanism for securing the openable crotch in a closed position might spontaneously open to expose a woman's crotch area when she is engaged in athletics.
Therefore, there exists a need for tight-fitting comfortable clothing with a crotch portion positionable in open and closed positions.